Compulsive behavior in tobacco users

Addictions have been associated with compulsive behaviors, which serve to reduce emotional distress. Tobacco use has been associated with increased adverse moods such as anxiety. Nicotine has established anxiolytic effects through modulation of central neurotransmitters, including monoamines. Both obsessive-compulsive behaviors and tobacco use have both been associated with dysfunction in orbitofrontal-subcortical circuits. This study demonstrated greater intensity of compulsive behaviors (as measured by the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale [Y-BOCS]) in tobacco users compared to nonusers, which was not due to demographic influences or use of other psychoactive drugs. Both the frequency of tobacco use and level of overall emotional distress correlated positively with the severity of compulsive symptoms. The results are consistent with tobacco use as a form of self-medicating compulsive symptoms, likely through monoamine modulation of orbitofrontal-subcortical circuits.